The Weaver Effect
by Laurel Rhyse
Summary: She finds his superior intellect fascinating. He finds her chaotic randomness infuriating. She wants to get to know him. He wants to know how she can make his heart feel funny and feel like a complete moron when he is around her.
1. The Weaver Effect

_A/N: So this is my first TBBT fic, so go easy. If you wish to make commentary, don't be mean please. This is just fiction after all. I will try and be as accurate as I can when pertaining to characters from the show. Remember to review, review, review!! I can't do much with direction of the story if I don't know how it's being perceived. Now for the disclaimer: I own nothing of TBBT or anything related to the show (characters, storyline,etc.) but I do own Lilly Benson and any characters I create for the story. _

_Now that I'm done ranting, please enjoy the story and remember to review at the end of the chapters._

_ -Laurel Rhyse _

_****_

The Weaver Effect

Lilly huffed as she pulled at the cardboard box lodged in her car, but much to her agitation, it remained stuck between the frames of the car. _How in the hell did I get it in, but now I can't get it out?_

Releasing the flimsy folds of the box, Lilly breathed heavily against the open door. Her sweaty face rested against the crook of her elbow as she wiped her forehead on her elbow-length sleeve. She had been on the road for nearly two days to get to her new apartment, which she couldn't find for hours, and now she couldn't even get a stupid box out of her car.

Raising her head, Lilly sighed and noticed the sun was beginning to set, the sky turning a pinkish gold hue. Looking down at her watch, she groaned as she saw it was already seven-fifteen. Stepping back from the car, Lilly stared at the protruding nuisance with annoyance before she began kicking it harshly.

"Damn…stupid …box!"

As she cursed between kicks, she didn't notice a pretty blond walk up behind her towards the front door of the apartment building. The woman wore a white and yellow blouse and a blue skirt, which together resembled a uniform. The woman looked amused as Lilly took her frustration out on the box holding her pots and pans.

"Having trouble?"

"Gah!" Lilly screamed as she turned around on her heels to see the blond for the first time. Holding a hand to her chest, Lilly's heart raced out of surprise.

The woman held out her hands to show she meant no harm and stepped forward, "Haha, sorry, didn't mean to scare you. Did you need some help with, um?"

Lilly turned to the deformed box in her car, blushing as she closed the car door and locked the doors with the remote on her keychain, a loud beep emitting from the vehicle. Turning back to the blond, Lilly saw her with an amused look on her face.

"I'll get it later…"

"So, you're new to the building?"

Lilly nodded and offered her hand, "Yeah, I'm Lilly, Lilly Weaver"

The blond shook Lilly's hand and said, "I'm Penny. Welcome to the building, I guess."

"Thanks, um, so about the elevator…"

Penny shook her head quickly, "Yeah, I wouldn't use it if I were you."

***

Some time later, Lilly was able to unload her car with Penny's help. She was surprised that the pretty blond was so nice. Normally girls with her looks were little Ms. Prisses with the same name of Bitch.

But Penny was sweet, if not a bit ditzy, but sweet none the less. She had helped her for the last hour, hauling things out of Lilly's car and was currently unpacking and decorating her bathroom.

She was an aspiring actress who worked at the Cheesecake Factory until she made it big. She had lived in the building for about two years and claimed she was writing a screenplay about a girl quite similar to herself.

"Lilly, you don't have a shower curtain!"

Standing on her tip-toes to shove her pots and pans into the cupboard above the stove, Lilly looked over her shoulder towards Penny's voice. "What?"

Penny appeared around the corner of the hallway and leaned against the refrigerator, "You don't a shower curtain."

Lilly's brain clicked and she groaned, she had left her shower curtain behind, along with a number of needed bathroom products.

"Damn, I le-"

_Bang!_

Lilly covered her head and ducked for cover as a number of pots crashed to the ground around her. The loud crash caused Penny jump and cover her mouth in shock as she witnessed the petite woman dodge falling kitchenware.

Lilly's face was beat red as she turned to Penny and pinched her fingers together, "oops."

Penny stepped over a large pot and rested her hand on Lilly's arm, "Are you okay, sweetie?"

Laughing, Lilly waved her hand in dismissal, "Oh, I'm fine. Stuff like that happens all the time; I'm just very clumsy… and an accident magnet."

After helping pick up the pots and insisting that she store the pots, Penny offered to show Lilly where she could get some nice bathroom decorum. Lilly, wanting to get out of her new, but rundown apartment, happily agreed, and grabbed her hobo bag.

As they walked down the stairwells, Lilly thought about how she had been fooled into believing the apartment building was in good condition. _Stupid of me to belief a picture, should have known such cheap rent had a catch. _

Living on the fifth floor was going to get old real quick for her.

They took Penny's car, much to Lilly's dismay as the car was rather small; Lilly did not like small, confined spaces.

Sitting rigidly in the passenger seat, Lilly tried to maintain her cool and focused on something else, like the bright engine light. "Hey Penny…you know your engine light is on, right?"

Penny rolled her eyes, as if she heard that question way too many times before. "Yeah, that's always been on."

Clutching the door, Lilly cleared her throat, "Really? You should get that checked out."

The blond gave Lilly a look that said to shut up or get out; Lilly opted for the first and made a zipping motion over her lips. "Shutting up."

****

"So, what brings you to Pasadena?"

Penny walked beside Lilly as she glided the buggy along slowly, looking at the aisle signs overhead.

Turning to Penny, Lilly shrugged, "Just felt like a change from tiny Cameron, Texas. Plus, my brother lives out here; he's a chef."

Turning down the aisle with bathroom accessories, the two women began searching for things for Lilly's unfinished bathroom.

"So, what are you looking for exactly? What colors?" asked Penny as she picked up a red soap dish.

Lilly looked at the shower curtains hanging before her and said, "I think something bright would do nicely. Maybe yellow?"

"Oh, that would cute. Oh here,"

Penny bent down and pulled a bright yellow towel from the bottom shelf. Lilly nodded and ran her fingers over it, "It's soft too. This is perfect."

Tossing a couple of towels of the same color into the basket, Lilly chose a green shower curtain to offset the yellow Penny picked out.

The girls talked as they ventured around the store, both surprised that they were getting along so well after only knowing one another for a short period of time.

"A chemist huh?"

Lilly gave Penny a look of disbelief as she laid a couple of candles in the buggy, a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips.

Penny crossed her arms and said, "Well, he's sorta a chemist."

Lilly faced her and gave her a pointed look before shaking her head and pushed the buggy further down the aisle. Penny ran after her, "What?"

Lilly only laughed and turned down the next aisle.

While looking at curtains for the living room, Penny ventured off to search for the restroom. It wouldn't have been a big deal if Penny had not been gone for so long. Concerned, Lilly began searching for the restroom to check on the pretty blond.

The restroom was easy to find, but Penny wasn't. She wasn't in the restroom when Lilly walked in and called out to her. Instead, as Lilly walked out of the lavatory, she saw Penny standing next to the buggy.

"Hey, where'd you go?"

Penny held out a large plastic bag and said, "I found this when I walked out of the bathroom. Consider it a welcome gift."

Lilly took the bag and looked inside. Snapping her head up, a smile was formed on her lips, "This is wonderful Penny, thank you."

Lilly pulled out a large, multi-picture frame that was made of wood and had golden trim around the frame edges. "This is sweet of you Penny."

Penny shrugged, "No big deal, just wanted to officially welcome you to the building, it's nice to have a girl around. I'm surrounded by boys most of the time."

The girls made their way to checkout so that they could get back to the building; apparently Penny had a date with her boyfriend, Leonard, and didn't want to be late. Lilly apologized profusely, but Penny stopped her, "Stop it, its fine really. There's plenty of time to get back to your apartment. Leonard said dinner isn't until nine, so it's good."

Lilly looked down at her watch and chuckled nervously, "Uh, Penny, it's five past nine right now."

Penny looked at Lilly for a full minute before cursing, "Crap on a cracker!"

***

Once they arrived back at the apartment, Penny apologized and ran into the building to talk to her boyfriend, who apparently lived across the hall from her. As Lilly closed the trunk after removing her new things, she noticed a pair of keys lying on the ground.

Penny dropped her keys

Awkwardly, Lilly managed to pick up the keys without dropping her stuff and made her way into the building and up the stairs, nearly tripping as she stumbled over the top of the second flight of steps.

She quickly laid her things down before returning downstairs to give Penny her keys. Once on the fourth floor, Lilly stopped. She didn't know which apartment Penny lived in.

Crap.

Standing there for a moment, Lilly decided it didn't matter which door she knocked on as Penny's boyfriend was also her neighbor. Knocking on 4A, Lilly waited for the door to open.

After a moment the door opened to reveal a brown-skinned man who was Indian, and who seemed to have become frozen when he saw her. She smiled awkwardly, feeling slightly uncomfortable as he stared at her with his mouth hanging open slightly.

"Hi, is Penny here?"

The man said nothing and slowly turned around and left her standing there with the door open. He seemed to be too frightened to say anything, which made her feel even more awkward standing in the doorway.

"Hey,"

The silent man sat down on the brown leather couch while another, rather…brightly dressed man, seemed to move at light speed to get to the door. Leaning against it, he gave her what she thought he thought was a charming smile.

"Well, hello there…"

Lilly raised her hand and gave a little wave, unsure if she liked this guy so close in her bubble. Clearing her throat, she asked him if Penny was there.

"Penny? Oh,"

The man's face dropped and turned around to sit beside the silent Indian watching what appeared to be Star Trek.

Her face lit up and she barged into the apartment, shutting the door behind her, "Is that episode one of season two, Amok Time; where Spock is overcome with pon farr, the mating urge of Vulcans, and must venture home in order to prevent his death by mating with T'Pring, but is refused by her because she has the hots for another Vulcan, so Spock has to fight for her, and T'Pring chooses Kirk, who Spock thinks he kills and is literally shocked out of pon farr, but really doesn't and then returns to the Enterprise and resumes their galactic adventures?"

Both men slowly turned their heads to look at her in shock, two sets of mouths open as they looked at her with disbelieve. The Indian turned to his friend and whispered in his ear, resulting in the vibrantly dressed, brown-haired man to verbalize, "Yes, a hot chick just talked about Star Trek, I am sitting here, you know."

Lilly blushed as she didn't consider herself "hot" in the least. She had bright orange-red hair that had a life of its' own half the time, somewhat pale, almost milky skin, and a tiny bit of tummy pudge that she never was able to get rid of. She was remarkably short, only coming up to 5'1 feet, and had a knack of being uncoordinated.

In a split second, she found her hands being held in the short man's hands as he arched an eyebrow, as if trying to look suave…but sucked at it.

"_Heureux de vous rencontrer_, I'm Howard Wolowitz."

He gave a smile and brought her right hand to his lips, only to have Lilly pull her hand away and pat his shoulder, "Nice to meet you, Howard."

She turned to his silent friend and stuck out her hand as she walked around a pouting Howard, "Hi, I'm Lilly."

He simply stared at her outstretched hand before standing and moving away rigidly towards the kitchen area where he opened the freezer and hid behind the door. Lilly cocked her head and turned to Howard, who shook his head and said, "That's Raj, he can't talk to pretty girls."

Lilly blushed again and laughed nervously, "Um, okay…."

Looking down at her converse covered feet, Lilly noticed a video game case resting on the table. She picked it up and squealed, "Oh frak! It's the new Final Fantasy! I've been waiting to play this!"

From behind the freezer, Raj poked his head out and stared at her in shock, as Howard took the case from Lilly's hand and asked, "You play video games too?"

Lilly nodded excitedly and said, "Yeah. Hey can I play it till Penny gets back from her date with Leonard?"

Howard laughed in disbelief, "Sure, but I get next game when you die."

Lilly took the controller and sat down in the middle of the leather couch and slid to the far left, facing the television, "Just put the game in and prepare to watch me rock this, Howie"

Howard looked up from where he knelled on the ground with an uncomfortable look on his face as she slid across the coach, but said nothing before turning to the TV and did as she said.

He kept looking at where she sat, but she just ignored him as her attention focused completely on the game.

***

"No! Damn you, damn you!"

Howard and Raj sat on the floor as Lily stood in a combat position as she pressed the buttons of the controller rapidly. They sat on either side of her, Howard verbally cheering her on while Raj gave her a thumbs up.

When "Game Over" popped on the screen, Lilly flopped back on the coach and curled up her legs under her, crossed her arms, and pouted as Howard took the controller in triumph and began where she left off before her demise.

After a few minutes, Lilly stood and asked if she could use the bathroom. Focused on the game, Howard mumbled, "Yeah, yeah just down the hall…"

She danced down the hall, leaving the two men without a word.

Raj's face suddenly broke into a smile, "She's totally hot, dude."

The sound of a ringtone that resembled the X-men theme song echoed from Howard's pocket. Raj stole the controller as Howard pulled his cell phone out, "Hello?"

His face fell and an annoyed look came over it as he looked down at the ground, "Yes Ma…I'm at Leonard's….but Ma…Ma..Can't you do that yourself?...Ma! No, I will not wax…"

He turned sharply behind him to look at Raj, who was staring at him curiously before turning around again and mumbling into the phone, "I'm not waxing your…I do to have a life…yes I am with Raj…for the last time Ma, WE ARE JUST FRIENDS, GET OFF MY BACK! YEAH, YEAH I'M COMING HOME!"

He shut his phone with a snap and calmly looked down at Raj, "Come on Raj, Ma's making brisket."

Raj stood and left the controller on the coffee table and followed the angry Howard out of the apartment, shutting the door behind him.

The apartment was silent, minus the music coming from the TV screen and the flush of a toilet. Lilly walked out of the bathroom and into the living room, only to stop and look around the apartment for Howard and Raj. "Howard? Raj? Hello?"

Peering into the kitchen, she saw no one. She walked back to the coach and looked down at the controller and then the TV screen. A wicked smirk formed on her lips and she sat back down on the left of the coach and took the controller in her hands, "Might as well enjoy it, my cable won't be hooked up till tomorrow anyway."

***

It had been two hours and still, Penny had not shown up. It was now eleven and she didn't want to seem, well, weird by sitting in someone else's apartment. Standing, she shut the TV off and pulled her hobo bag on her lap and dig for her notepad-sized sticky notes. Once finding it in her bottomless pit of a bag, she wrote that she had found Penny's key and walked over to the front door and placed Penny's key on the table by the door. She stuck the note on the door, but it was being difficult.

She leaned closer and rubbed her finger along the paper, forcing it against the door. That was when the door opened and banged against her face. "Oof!"

Falling to the ground, Lilly hit the back of her head on the wooden floor of the apartment, passing out as she made contact with the floorboards.

Standing above her stood a tall, lanky, dark-haired man wearing a corduroy jacket and Thai takeout in his hands. Looking down at the strange, unconscious woman on his living room floor, Sheldon Cooper looked around awkwardly before back at the woman.

"Oh dear…"

****

I would like everyone to tell me what they think about my story so far, so hit the REVIEW BUTTOM BELOW!!! I will write a few more chapters and then make the decision of continuing or not, so please REVIEW.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Penny and Leonard sat together in the movie theatre, Leonard slightly peeved due to missing dinner, but happy that he was actually alone with his girlfriend. They had opted to go to the movies when their reservations were filled by an impatient and rather large man.

Penny snuggled against his arm, causing a large grin to etch on to his face. Looking down at her, he couldn't help but think how amazing it was, and how astronomically insane, that a beautiful girl like Penny would ever go out with him.

She looked up at him and smiled sweetly, "You're vibrating."

His smile fell into a frown and cocked his head, "What?"

She sat up and pointed at his coat pocket that was vibrating from his phone, "Oh!"

Pulling it out, Leonard groaned when he saw who it was that was calling them in the middle of the movie, "It's Sheldon."

Penny stole the popcorn and shrugged, "Ignore him,"

Leonard gave her a "Are you serious" look, "Penny…this is Sheldon. If I don't answer, he'll do something stupid, like show up here."

He answered the phone, "Hey Sheldon,"

Penny turned around and she rolled her eyes as she went back to watching the film. Leonard's face was crunched up in annoyance as well, as it never failed for Sheldon to ruin a romantic moment of theirs.

Sheldon's voice came over the phone, clearly upset about something, "You must return home immediately. Something quite unusual has happened at our apartment."

Leonard sat up and held himself stiffly. "What, were we robbed? A fire? Did Howard and Raj do something to our apartment?"

Sheldon's voice held annoyance now, "No. As I entered our apartment, I stumbled upon something that was quite troubling. Do you know what I stumbled upon Leonard?"

Sighing, Leonard shrugged, "No, but I'm sure you're about to tell me."

Leonard could see him now: Sheldon standing tall with his arms crossed and a irritated look on his face, his mouth frowning and his eyes full of conviction, "As I entered our apartment, it was my understanding that we would be dining with our two constant companions as it is Friday evening, on which we always eat either Thai or Chinese food. But no, instead, as I opened the door, I found no trace of them. Instead, I find an incapacitated woman lying spread-eagle on our living room floor!"

"WHAT?!"

Penny looked at Leonard in concern at his outburst, "What happened with Sheldon?"

Leonard told Sheldon that they were on their way home and rose to his feet, taking Penny's hand as he did, "Sheldon said there's a girl unconscious in the apartment."

Penny stopped him and looked confused, "What?"

"Hey! Down in front!!" a voice yelled from somewhere in the darkness of the movie theatre.

Penny apologized and followed Leonard out of the theatre as he rushed up the steps toward the exit. They made it to the car in record time and Penny sped back to the apartments.

As they walked up the third flight of stairs Penny and Leonard were passed by two E. who were laughing, "Have you ever seen someone panic like that? There wasn't even any blood!"

Penny and Leonard rushed up the final flight of stairs and into Leonard's apartment to see Sheldon standing at the opposite end of the coach, staring down at the unconscious woman lying on the couch, folding a wet hand towel in half and placing it on the woman's forehead, where a prominent bruised goose egg-sized knot resided.

After patting it gently against her skin he stood uncomfortably and when he finally noticed Leonard and Penny standing in the doorway, rushed over, "Finally! Where have you been? Never mind, now that you're here you can help me move this questionable woman from my spot."

Penny walked from behind Leonard and gasped when she recognized Lilly. "Oh my god! That's Lilly! Sheldon what did you do!?"

She smacked him in the chest, which caused the physicist to look down at her with perplexity and then at Leonard, who took a noticeable step away from his suddenly angered girlfriend. "Now that we've established the identity of the intruder, let us move the blocking force from my spot!"

He bent down to raise the unconscious Lilly when suddenly her eyes popped opened and she screamed, fist flying towards the unidentifiable being coming towards her.

Sheldon's head snapped to the side and his hands flew to his face, clutching his throbbing nose, "She hit me, she hit me! I'm bleeding Leonard…Leonard she hit me!"

Lilly scrambled up, the wet towel falling on to her lap, and looked at the man who had hit her with a door, clutching his nose with his head facing upward, as if trying to stop a nosebleed. He was making a whining noise as he walked toward the kitchen, searching for something, all the while his face turned up in he air and his free hand waving around as he searched.

Lilly relaxed slightly when Penny sat next to her and rubbed her arms, "Lilly, what happened? What are you doing here?"

Lilly winced and brought the wet towel to her forehead and held it there, "You dropped your keys and I was bringing them to you when I forgot which apartment was yours. Since you said you lived across the hall from your boyfriend, I just knocked on this one. Howard said you had already left on your date so I asked if I could wait for you here. He said sure and Raj just kinda stared at me, which was kinda weird if you ask me, but anyway, we started to play Final Fantasy and then I had to go to the bathroom. When I got back, both Howard and Raj were gone, so I decided I'd wait a little longer. After a while, I thought it would be strange to come home and find me sitting alone in this apartment, so I was going to leave a note with your key, when I was hit the face with a rogue door."

After her speedy explanation, Leonard said, "You met Howard and weren't weirded out by him?"

Lilly smiled and stood slowly, "Oh, he was weird all right, but in a sweet way."

Turning to Sheldon, she nearly bust out laughing as he was filling his nose with disinfected cotton balls to stop the nonexistent blood. Walking cautiously towards him she gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry if I freaked you out, but did you have to hit me with a door?"

Sheldon glared down at her, "I am not Superman. I do not posses his ability of concentrating on the patterns of natural cosmic radiation as it reverberates off objects."

She cocked her head and bit her lip as she tried to understand what he just said. His crossed arms fell and he sighed, "I can't see through walls."

Her hips involuntarily tilted and she placed her hands on them, "Well excuse me! You could apologize you know, for hitting me in the face with a door! You know, just out of courtesy."

Sheldon's lips pursed and would have seemed serious if not for cotton balls sticking out of his nostrils. "Hmm, interesting… Please, do explain your premise of an apology when you are the one intruding into my apartment? If anyone is to be apologizing, it should be you, as you are the uninvited guest, not that you are a guest. More like an invader."

Lilly opened her mouth to retort when she saw that he actually was bleeding. "Oh I'm so sorry!"

She took his arm and pulled him towards the kitchen, much to his confusion as she had just been giving him the evil eye and nearly yelling at him. She turned on the faucet and ran the hand towel underneath the warm water. After turning off the water, Lilly squeezed the excessive water from the cloth and faced Sheldon, who was watching with curiosity.

Lilly raised to her tip-toes and removed the cotton balls from his nose and threw them on to the counter, much to Sheldon's horror as the knowledge of thousands of germs now resided on his sterile counter.

"Do you have any idea how many bacteria you've now contaminated my kitchen with? You have completely infected-"

"You do know that the human body is covered in 32 million species of bacterium don't you? So why are you so concerned when the bacteria on the counter are your own?"

Sheldon shut his mouth and stood rigidly as she brought the warm towel to his nose and rubbed the bit of blood away. "There, nice and clean."

He took hold of the hand towel and held it out at a distance, dropping it into the sink, "Doubtful, as this was the very cloth that resided on your person, resulting in the bacteria from your head wound to transfer onto it and from there to me."

She raised her eyebrows and stared at him. He returned the stare before placing his hands behind his back, "Excuse me."

He walked around her and down the hall. The sound of running water could be heard moments later. Turning to Penny and Leonard, she gave them a curious look.

Leonard stepped forward and seemed a bit uncomfortable, "Um, he likes to stay clean. It's not you, really."

Lilly just shrugged and stuck out her hand, "You must be Leonard, it's nice to meet you. Penny's told me all about you."

***

I know this is a rather short chapter, but I wanted to finish the little encounter Sheldon has with Lilly to get the characters in place. Thank you all who have reviewed to my first chapter, it's always encouraging when people give good feedback. So to keep that in mind, REVIEW, hit the REVIEW button below.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: I just want to thank everyone for their reviews again; I am so exited now about writing this! I'm always opened to impute, so let me know, even if it's just random comments. Enjoy!_

***

***

Chapter Three

It had been a week since Lilly moved into her new apartment and despite the unusual start, had found it quite a nice place, regardless of the several downsides of living there, such as the broken elevators that management refused to fix.

She found early on that her downstairs neighbors apparently didn't like it when her morning music blared, but it was going to take more than a broom hitting the ceiling to stop her from playing it. Besides, she wasn't going to be nice to Sheldon Cooper until he apologized to her.

Which he had yet to do…

You see, most people would drink coffee or take a shower to wake up, but not Lilly.

Instead of caffeine, Lilly woke up and would blare her eclectic collection of music as she cooked herself breakfast or read whatever book she was obsessed with at the time. But apparently her neighbors downstairs didn't approve.

She actually found a typed up letter taped to her door when she came home from work last night. She laughed when she opened the letter and found a contract inside, a no- music before eleven a.m. contract to be more specific. There was even a place for her to sign at the bottom.

Today was Saturday much to her relief. Lilly was a school nurse and she loved it, but there were days where the kids just pushed one to many buttons.

It was nearly ten in the morning and she was dancing around her apartment, straitening up, as her stereo echoed throughout the living room.

She was chaotic by nature and normally wouldn't be cleaning on her day off, but Trevor was coming to see her, and as he was her only brother, she thought she'd be nice and play the good hostess.

Lilly sang along with Lifehouse as she sang, "Falling In" from her iPod that sat on her kitchen counter, and threw her dirty scrubs that lay near her sofa in the hamper resting against her hip.

…_Every time I see your face my heart takes off on a high-speed chase, now don't be scared it's only love baby that we're falling in…_

As she laid her hamper down on the couch, the muffled sound of knocking came from her door,

_*Knock, knock, knock*_

"Lilly!"

_*Knock, knock, knock*_

"Lilly!"

_*Knock, knock, knock*_

"…Lilly!"

Unsure if she wanted to open the door due the angry voice coming from the other side, Lilly moved slowly towards her door and looked through the peep-hole as much as she could with her short stature. When she saw who it was, she smirked and leaned against it, nearly singing, "Who is it?" to her visitor.

_I can't wait till tomorrow this feeling has swallowed me whole…_

"Sheldon Cooper, you may remember me…the owner of the apartment you intruded into on Friday of last week."

Rolling her eyes, she pushed off the door and placed her hands on her hips, her long orange curls brushing against her bare arms, as she glared at the door. "I did not intrude! For the last time, Howard let me in."

"As it is not Wolowitz's apartment, he had no authority of allowing you entry, ergo, you intruded."

…_and you know that I've lost control_….

She scoffed at his tone, "Well why don't you just rub in the 'so there' while you're being high and mighty out there?"

"….so there…"

Obviously, this guy didn't get sarcasm. There was silence for a brief moment before his voice held a questionable enquiry to it, "Sarcasm?"

…_this heart that I follow has left me so hollow…_

Laughing in bewilderment, she rested her hand on the door handle and bit her nails, not really knowing if she wanted to have another confrontation with the strange man from downstairs. But she was curious about that contract.

_...yeah, you have changed everything..._

She opened her door to find Sheldon standing there, his arms crossed and frowning. She leaned against her doorframe and gave him a large smile, "Mr. Cooper, what can I do for you? Nice shirt by the way."

Straitening, he held his hands before him and looked down at his faded Flash t-shirt, "Thank you. I'm here to discuss the contract that I trust you've received by now."

She laughed at his seriousness but motioned for him to come in and let him walk past her into her apartment. She closed the door and walked around him to lower the volume of her stereo.

…_every time I see your face my heart takes off on a high-speed chase, now don't be scared it's only love baby that we're falling in…_

Crossing her arms across her tank-top covered chest, she shrugged her shoulders, "Okay, so what about this 'contract' do you want to talk about? The part where I ask you if you're serious or the part where you say you're joking?"

Sheldon seemed to have taken an interest in her living room as he was looking around it in uncertainty.

"What's wrong?"

He sharply turned to her, "What's wrong? Do you realize you're living like this or are you oblivious to the fact that your living room resembles the aftermath of the running of the bulls?"

"Hey! I'm cleaning up! See?!"

She picked up the empty juice box that lay on its side on the wooden table resting in the middle of the living room, followed by her cereal bowl from breakfast.

Walking into the kitchen, she threw the items in the trash and leaned against the sink, staring at Sheldon from across the counter. "Now...Sheldon what are you doing?"

As she had gone into the kitchen, Sheldon had picked up her hamper and was walking around her apartment, throwing her clothes into it as he walked around the room. Lilly walked in front of him and placed her hands on his arms, stopping his rampage.

"Sheldon, why are you picking up my clothes?"

"Well, you certainly haven't been doing it."

She huffed as he walked around her and continued picking up her clothes. "Sheldon! Stop picking up my clothes!"

He seemed to not hear her as he continued to move about the room, grabbing articles of clothing. Lilly watched him do this, shaking her head in the process.

She shrugged before disappearing down the hall. Sheldon had not noticed, too focused on his task. Sheldon quickly finished picking up the random articles of clothing that lay scattered across the apartment floor and with satisfaction, laid the hamper down next to the sofa.

He curled his lip up when he saw the rest of the disorganized living space, "Dear lord, she's worse than Penny."

Sheldon quickly began straitening and tidying up the room, his discomfort slowly deteriorating as the living room became cleaner. His cleaned migrated into the kitchen, where he soaked the dishes in bleach and scrubbed each of them twice before towel drying them and putting them in their proper places.

Rapidly, Sheldon made his way down the hallway until he reached an open doorway and rationalized that it must be Lilly's bedroom from the queen-sized bed that was located in the middle of the room and boxes labeled, "Lilly's room" scattered about the area.

He stepped into the bedroom and immediately began picking up the various books and notepads that scattered the purple comforter. As he removed them, he scanned the titles. He was surprised that many of them were science fiction, such as a edition of complete works of Isaac Asimov and a tattered _Do_ _Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?_

He carefully made the untidy bed, removing any crease that appeared and placed the numerous pillows on the bed in an organized manner.

Turning to the pile of books, he remembered he had seen a large box with the label, "books" written on the side in the living room. With books in hand, Sheldon made his way back to the living room and over to a four-shelved bookcase. He shook his head and sighed at the sight of disorganization.

Dropping the books into the open box, Sheldon began to alphabetize the excessive number of books on to the shelf. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that there was a shelf adjacent to the one in front of him. It too was in disarray. He would get to it as soon as he finished with this.

It did not take Sheldon long to organize the bookshelves and it was at that point that he realized he had come upstairs for a purpose. Turning, Sheldon expected to see Lilly standing there, but found no one.

"Lilly?"

Walking back down the hall, Sheldon called out for her, but she did not answer him, "Lilly?"

The sound of humming came from behind the door on his right, causing Sheldon to repeatedly knock three times,

_*Knock, knock, knock*_

"Lilly"

_*Knock, knock, knock*_

"Lilly"

_*Knock, knock, knock*_

"Lilly"

When there was no response, Sheldon stood there uncertain for a moment before twisting the doorknob and opening the door fully only to come face to face with a shrilling, naked Lilly.

"Ahh! Sheldon get out!"

She covered her nakedness with her hands and Sheldon's eyes popped like a dear caught in front of headlights. His heart racing at a remarkable rate.

"Sorry!"

He went to turn away and leave when he miscalculated and ran smack dab into the frame and slipping into the hallway due to water spilling out of the shower from Lilly's frantic movements. Sheldon raced into the living room, watery-eyed from hitting his already injured nose, and reached for the door.

From the hallway, Lilly came running, tying her silky robe around her waist, her wet hair dripping water down her neck. "Sheldon, Sheldon wait!"

Sheldon stopped despite his reluctance and eagerness to disappear from the residence, and turned to face her. "I believe an apology is expected in this quandary."

Lilly couldn't help but smile as she sat down on the couch and ran her hands through her wet hair, "So I have to be naked in order for you to apologize to me? That's a useful tidbit of information, thanks Sheldon."

Sheldon ignored her comment and walked forward until his legs pressed against the armrests of the couch. "I apologize for seeing you nude, Lilly. It was not my intention."

She couldn't help but blush, but nodded, accepting his apology. "It's not a big deal, Sheldon."

"On the contrary, your blushing is suggestive of an emotional response; such as anger, shame, modesty, and embarrassment. I would opt for the later due to the event that has just occurred between us."

Lilly's blush only deepened and she rose to her feet and made her way to got around Sheldon to retrieve the contract he had left for her last night; after all, that was why he was here in the first place.

"Um, so you wanted to talk abou-"

She stopped mid-step and noticed he had completely cleaned her apartment, including organizing her books. She turned to him with a mixture of confusion, happiness, and guilt before walking up to him with outstretched arms and engulfed his waist, hugging him.

"Oh, thank you so much Sheldon! You didn't have to clean! You could have just apologized like you just did about, you know…"

She trailed off, not wanting to bring up the embarrassment again. "Why didn't you just say you were sorry?"

He was leaning away from her, as if she smelled bad or something, and looked uncomfortable with her hugging him. She let go but waited for him to answer her question.

"I did not apologize because I have nothing to apologize for. I simply corrected the catastrophe that was your apartment so that it may be a livable environment."

Her smile slid from her lips and she rolled her eyes before turning around and picking up the contract from her desk and returning to stand next to Sheldon, pursing her lips as she did. He on the other hand didn't seem to grasp the fact that she was peeved.

"Ah yes, the contract. Now, Lilly, so that you may further comprehend it, I will explain the clauses with humdrum vocabulary."

Lilly only felt more insulted.

Sheldon did not seem to see this, however, as he began lecturing her of how rude her act of playing music so loudly was. He claimed that the acoustics migrated through the ventilation shafts down into his room, which disturbed his R.E.M. cycle.

Lilly, fuming, brushed past him into the kitchen as he followed and continuing explaining the contract as Lilly turned on the sink.

"What are you doing? There are no dishes needing cleaning, I made sure of that for you."

She gave him an exaggerated smile before rolling up the contract and stuffing it down the disposal and flipping the switch and watching as the paper was shredded into wet mush.

Sheldon stared at the now empty sink and then at her. "Was that a metaphorical expression of a specific obscene hand gesture?"

She simply batted her eyes and walked past him towards her door. Opening it, she said, "Nice to see you again Sheldon. Next time, just say yes I apologize and shut up."

***

Sheldon was perturbed at the situation that occurred upstairs. Why was she so adamant on receiving an apology from him? He had done nothing wrong. She was the one who had entered his apartment without his or Leonard's permission. Wolowitz and Koothrappali had no authority in deciding who could enter or not when they were not there to supervise the visitation.

The contract was reasonable despite with Leonard said, although, he was correct in his assumption that she would react in an aggressive manner. But something had to be done about that woman's excessive noise every morning. He had nearly missed Doctor Who that morning due to Lilly's music blaring all hours of the days, and that would not do.

What occurred upstairs in the bathroom was not as…repulsive as he had thought such an event would be. She was aesthetically pleasing, to say the least, yet he had never been in a situation of similar caliber to make an accurate assessment of what he would define as attractive in a woman's body as he had never attempted or desired to find out.

"Hey Sheldon!"

Penny's voice caused Sheldon to look up from his computer screen to see Penny entering the apartment with Leonard. They had gone to the store earlier that morning, leaving Sheldon alone to contemplate the situation with Lilly upstairs.

"Greetings Penny, I assume from your joyful expression, all went well at the grocery store?"

"Yup…so Leonard was telling me you made a contract for Lilly to sign…really Sheldon?"

She looked at him like he was an idiot, causing him to jump from his seat and pacing back and forth, "That woman left me no other choice. I already warned her with simple messages for the last three nights, but she refuses to take them into account."

Leonard threw his bag on to the leather couch and threw his head back, staring up at the ceiling. "Sheldon, not everyone knows Morse code!"

Penny smiled behind her hand and sat down beside Leonard, who had flopped down, exhausted from Sheldon's obsession of stopping Lilly's excessive music blasting, which only Sheldon found disturbing. Leonard could care less really, but knowing Sheldon, he wasn't going to get a good night's sleep so long as his roommate was sending messages in Morse code with a broom to their orange-haired upstairs neighbor every night.

Penny laughed loudly and turned to Sheldon, "Just go upstairs and ask her nicely, Sheldon. Cause I know she's not going to sign any contract."

Sheldon stopped pacing and looked at Penny as if she had just discovered a physic phenomena, "I never thought of that…you may be more intelligent that you've been perceived Penny."

Penny frowned and looked at Leonard who just shook his head and turned to the TV, wrapping his arm around his girlfriend, "He's a genius yet a complete idiot at the same time."

Leonard just nodded, "Yup."

***

_*Knock, knock, knock*_

"Lilly"

_*Knock, knock, knock*_

"Lilly"

_*Knock, knock, knock*_

"Li-"

The door opened and Lilly glared at Sheldon as she crossed her arms and pursed her lips as she tilted her hips, something he had noticed she did when agitated or upset.

"Yes Mr. Cooper?"

He sighed and took a step closer, "I now realize that my action of drafting an agreement of audio guidelines may have been,"

"Rude? A bit much, maybe?"

He swallowed the retort he wished to say and instead nodded. "You are inclined to have your own opinion. But I realize that perhaps it would be reasonable to ask nicely, as Penny put it. Would you…please…keep your audio systems at a low volume level?"

The frown on Lilly's face vanished and she smiled, nodding her head as she stepped to the side, "Do you want to come in for a bit?"

He looked at her curiously, "Why would I do that? We have resolved the issue."

She shrugged her shoulders, her ever present smile on her face. "No reason, just to hang out. I'm making cookies. Do you like chocolate chip?"

He was silent for a moment before fiddling with his checkered-designed pant pockets, "My mom used to make me chocolate chip cookies."

He stepped through the door quickly and Lilly looked after him in amusement as she shut the door and followed him towards the kitchen where he resembled a child as he waited for the cookies to finish baking.

"Do you want milk with your cookie?"

"Oh yes, please."

***

_Another chapter for you to enjoy. I am so happy everyone has enjoyed Sheldon's character. I think he's the hardest to write just because he's so eccentric, but that's what makes him so lovable. So, Nate will make his debut appearance in the next chapter, just a heads up for everyone. I had fun writing this chapter just because I've always wondered how Sheldon would react to seeing a naked woman as he's supposedly a nonsexual being, which is now questionable from his reaction to Lilly (wink, wink). Now, remember to hit the REVIEW button below, _**REVIEW!**_ Thanks everyone._

***


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: hi everyone, Laurel here. Thanks for the reviews again; so I want to clear something up really quick before you delve into the next exciting chapter of this tale, Nate is not Lilly's brother, Trevor is. I just wanted to clear that up cause I didn't make that clear in my last chapter. Enjoy!

***

***

Chapter Four

Nate Donnelly was what most women found attractive; he was handsome, smart, and had money. His only downfall was his narcissistic personality. He obsessed over his appearance and reputation to the point of absurdity. If he were to ever be asked what three things he would bring to an island it would be hair gel, a treadmill, and tanning oil.

It was his self-obsession that made Lilly wonder how he could even want to ask her out.

Now, don't think that Nate is a bad guy or anything; he's not. It's only that he priorities makes him seem like a dick. He could be rather sweet and charming when he wanted to be.

However, apparently he was trying to use that sweetness and charm to get a date out of her; it was not working.

Normally she would just ignore and avoid men she didn't take an interest in, but it was a tad bit difficult to do when the man worked at the same elementary school as she did.

He was a third grade teacher, which baffled her as he really didn't have the image of one.

Nate was determined to have a date with and would visit the nurse's office at lunch every day. She had rejected him two times already in the last week and yet he still persisted.

She didn't want to cause problems with the school as she was still new. But Nate was beginning to get under her skin.

"Nurse Weaver, you are looking exceptionally beautiful today."

_Speak of the Devil._

Swiveling her chair around, she plastered a tight smile on her face, "Hello Mr. Donnelly, what an I do for you today?"

He gave a perfect white smile, that she swore gleamed. He was tall an fit; many of the female teachers claimed he had a six pack and was ripped something fierce underneath his clothes. He had a gorgeous tan that she envied, as she was a milky white. He also had big green eyes and wavy golden locks.

Sauntering in, he leaned against her wobbly desk, his right leg hitching over the corner, as he perched himself there.

A lock of hair fell into his eyes and he ran his hands through it, winking at her as he did.

_Did he just flex?_

"Well, you could give me an answer about Thursday night."

In her mind, she was telling him that he needed to piss off and leave her alone, but her mouth said, "I don't know Mr. Donnelly, it really isn't professional for co-workers to date, is it?"

He leaned closer and whispered, "Not if anyone knows. Come on Lilly, just give me a chance. You may find me to be absolutely charming and fall in love with me."

She twirled her chair around and pushed herself towards the filing cabinets to put some distance between them as she was uncomfortable with him so close to her face.

"Look, Nate, I'm flattered, but I really-"

The door opened and Daisy, a secretary from the front office, walked in. She and Lilly had become friends, bonding over the fact that they both were named after flowers by their mothers.

Daisy was very sweet and a bit shy, especially around men. She was a tad bit taller than Lilly (but so is everybody else) and had short blond hair, and a freckled face. She also had naturally large doe eyes that were currently staring at the handsome teacher trying to hit on Lilly.

Seeing her chance of escape, Lilly grabbed her bag and Daisy's arm simultaneously, bolting for the door, "Sorry Nate, me and Daze have a lunch date. Um, we'll talk later, okay?"

He couldn't even give a response she was so quick to leave; all he saw was a blur of scrubs and orange hair.

***

"Why don't you just ask him out, that way he'll leave me alone? I'm getting tired of him stalking me every freaking day, Daisy!"

Daisy snorted, "Like that would ever happen. You do realize I can't talk without stuttering around guys, right? Or haven't you seen that like everyday since you've known me?"

Lilly stopped cutting her meatloaf and looked over at Daisy, "Hey, we talked about this. Besides, some guys think your stuttering is cute."

Daisy scoffed, "Name one."

"Okay, well, there's Freddy from your building; he thinks you're cute."

Lilly watched as her friend's lips curled and her face formed a look of disgust, "That creep? He's a peeping tomb, no really; I caught him trying to look through my peephole when I was leaving for work yesterday. He creeps me out."

Lilly held up her hands and said, "Sorry! Relax Daisy, relax. I'm not saying to go out with him."

Daisy cocked her head and smirked at Lilly across the table, "Speaking of which, what are you going to do about Mr. Donnelly aka, Adonis, god of all that is gorgeous."

She giggled when Lilly stuck her finger in her throat, mimicking a gag, and shivered. "Please, don't bring him up."

"Why not, he's the future father of your perfect offspring."

"Of course he is…"

The waiter brought them their check and the two women rushed back to the school in a hurry.

Lilly spent the rest of the day in relative peace, minus the fiasco of little Tommy Weber throwing up over her scrub top. Luckily she kept extra for just this type of occasion.

So instead of matching scrubs, she had bright green bottoms with a crème colored short sleeved scrub top with a whirlwind of white, blue, and brown flowers, instead of the zebra print she had worn to work.

Milly Fowler, an adorable kindergartener, held her up as she asked to play with her stethoscope, as the school day ended.

Lilly was happy to; she absolutely loved children, which was why she chose to work as a school nurse. She was a qualified RN, and could make more money at a hospital, but she preferred the quiet scene of the school.

She managed to slip out of sight as Nate rounded the corner to come to the nurse's office and called out to her. She kept walking as if she hadn't heard him and sighed in relief once she was out of sight. She practically ran to her car in the faculty parking lot and sped home.

***

Slamming her car door, Lilly looked at her watch; three-fifteen, a new record. Grabbing her bag, she walked the short distance to the front doors of the apartment building and walked through them, only to see Penny at the mailbox.

"Hi Penny!"

Penny turned and smiled, "Hey Lilly, what are you up to?"

Lilly unlocked her mailbox and pulled out the few bills she had, including her weekly subscriptions to Sci-Fi Magazine and Entertainment Weekly. Folding the papers under her arms she said, "Can I ask you something?"

She and Penny began walking up the first flight of stairs, Penny looking through her own mail, "Sure, what's up?"

Sighing, Lilly began explaining her situation with Nate.

"Well, there's this guy,"

"-Oh, is he cute?"

Stopping on the second floor, Lilly gave Penny a questionable look, "What does that matter?"

"Never mind, so there's a guy?

Resuming walking, they walked the second flight of stairs, "Yeah, anyway, his name's Nate, and well he keeps asking me out."

Penny looked at her as if she were crazy, "And that's a problem how?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Lilly said, "Well, I'm not interested in him. I don't want to cause any trouble with the school with a situation like this when I just got here. He wants to go out Thursday night, too."

Turning up the third flight, Penny said, "Have you talked to Nate about how you feel?"

"Yes, and that's what's frustrating! He won't take the hint and I don't know how to go about telling him once and for all, that I don't want to go out with him."

They reached the fourth floor and stood in the middle of the hall, Penny's back to Leonard and Sheldon's apartment and Lilly facing it, her arms crossed and a look of frustration on her face. Penny was thinking of how Lilly could get rid of Nate.

Smirking, Lilly said, "I could always sic my brother on him. Trevor's never liked boys asking me out. He has high standards of who can date me apparently. Knowing Trev, he'd beat Nate to mush for even thinking about asking me out."

Penny snapped her fingers, "I got it!"

"What?"

"You could always say you already have a date on Thursday night."

Lilly raised her eyebrows in surprise, she hadn't thought of that. "That might work, but who would I be dating?"

Penny shrugged, "Doesn't matter who."

As she opened her mouth to talk, Lilly's cell rang. Pulling it from her bag, she answered, "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Nate. Where'd you run off to earlier? I tried to call out to you, but I guess you didn't hear me."

_Damn._

Covering the phone with her hand, Lilly panicked, "It's him! It's Nate!"

Penny leaned in, whispering, "Okay, calm down, tell him about your date on Thursday night."

Pulling the phone back to her ear, she cleared her throat, "Hi Nate, hey listen…you know how you've been asking me to go to dinner with you on Thursday? Well…I-I already have a date."

"…oh…what's the lucky guy's name?"

Lilly's head snapped up, unsure of how to answer, "His name? Um, why do you want to know?"

His words were meant to be simply curious, but she could hear the bitterness in his voice, "Oh, just curious, you know? Just wanting to know who has the beautiful girl on his arm Thursday night."

Biting her lip, she said, "Well, he's"

The door of 4A opened and Sheldon walked out, turning to lock his door, wearing his ever present corduroy jacket.

Penny looked surprised to see him, "Aren't you suppose to be at work?"

Sheldon adjusted his bag across his shoulder as he turned to face the two women, "For social conventions, I shall indulge your curiosity; Leonard broke his glasses at work, and as he is rendered ineffective without them, I have returned to retrieve his spare. But hello Penny, how are you?"

Penny rolled her eyes, "Never mind, Sheldon."

"Uh, yes, SHELDON… that's right, his name is SHELDON…yes, not many guys have that name…"

Sheldon's head snapped in her direction, feeling slightly insulted. Penny glanced between him and Lilly, contemplating why Lilly was had said Sheldon's name so specifically.

Lilly was shuffling her weight nervously as she continued to talk to Nate on the phone, "…oh I don't know, I mean Daisy…she did!?….it's just that Sheldon doesn't…but…"

She slowly lowered her phone and looked at Penny and Sheldon as if she had just been screwed over. Walking up to Sheldon, she looked at him nervously, "Hey, um Sheldon?"

"Yes Lilly?"

Closing her eyes, waiting for his reaction, she asked, "Do you have any plans Thursday night?"

***

Lilly laid across her couch, wrapped in a throw blanket as she sulked there, watching Caprica on the Syfy channel. She was so screwed.

Sheldon had, needless to say, refused to pose as her date when she asked him. But she wasn't giving up. She would keep asking him until he said yes.

_Great, now I sound like Nate._

_*Bing!*_

Jumping up, Lilly scampered into the kitchen and grabbed an oven mitt. She opened the oven slowly and peered inside. The cookies inside were done at last.

Carefully, she removed the tray and set it on the stove, shutting the oven with her foot. Using a spatula, she moved the cookies on to a plate and covered it with saran wrap.

She had been home for a few hours and it was around six o'clock. It was Tuesday and according to Penny, Sheldon always ate at the Cheesecake Factory on Tuesdays. She wanted to surprise him with the cookies as a friendly bribe.

Grabbing the plate, Lilly walked downstairs and knocked on the door, hoping Sheldon was back from the Cheesecake Factory. The sound of feet walking towards the door came from the other side, followed by the door opening to reveal Leonard.

"Hi Lilly. Oh cookies!"

She walked in and saw Howard and Raj were there, "Hi Howard, hi Raj."

Howard and Raj for the first time were ignoring her, too engrossed in a game of boggle, which was strange as they were spouting off in Klingon. "Is this a bad time?"

She turned to Leonard, who seemed a bit embarrassed, "We're, uh, playing Klingon Boggle."

Lilly smiled and ventured towards the kitchen, setting the cookies on the counter. "That's cool, so is Sheldon home? I really need to talk to him about something."

"Leonard, I can't find my Spock figurine! Did you go into my room!?"

Sheldon's voice echoed down the hall until he appeared a look of furry on his face. "Where's my Spock?!"

Leonard cleared his throat and smiled at Lilly nervously before looking at Sheldon, "I don't know! Maybe you misplaced it."

Sheldon huffed and crossed his arms, "Leonard, one does not misplace an original Spock figurine. Don't lower your intelligence to that of Wolowitz."

"Hey!"

Howard glared at Sheldon from his spot on the couch, where Raj was laughing silently. Sheldon noticed Lilly and she gave him a big smile, "Hi Sheldon, I made you some cookies. Want any?"

He walked past her and looked down at the cookies that were kept warm from the saran wrap, and took one, carefully examining it before biting into it. He nodded in approval as he swallowed, "Very satisfactory Lilly, thank you for the cookies."

She grabbed a cookie for herself and said, "Well I'm glad you like them."

"All right, cookies!" Howard said as he reached for one, only to watch as the plate was raised up by Sheldon, out of his reach.

"Back off! These are my cookies, Lilly made them for me."

He sounded like a two year old claiming a toy for himself, a pouty scowl on his face. He took another cookie and bit into it.

Leonard and Howard began fighting him for the plate, only to have Sheldon race around behind the couch to keep the plate away from them. Raj stood next to Lilly, stiff and silent as ever. She offered him the cookie she had taken from the plate s and he took it, a shy smile on his face as a thank you.

Lilly sat down on the couch and watched as Leonard and Howard overpowered Sheldon for the plate and took the cookies for themselves as Sheldon sulked, "Those were my cookies."

He walked around the couch and stopped short when he saw her sitting in his spot, "You're sitting in my spot."

"What?"

"You're sitting in my spot, that's where I sit."

She smiled and patted the spot next to her, "Sit next to me, there's plenty of room"

"heh, heh, heh"

He laughed and she looked around at the other three inhabitants of the room to verify just what was funny.

"What?"

Sheldon remained were he stood, which was rather close, staring down at her, uncertain of what to do. Everyone was watching him as he fiddled around with his hands, his feet fidgeting from anxiety. Turning his head to the left he said to Leonard, "She's in my spot and won't get up."

Leonard just shook his head, "Sit somewhere else Sheldon. Please!"

Sheldon looked at him as if he had just grown a second head but none the less began walking around the living area, searching for a place to sit. He sat on the armrest of the couch only to jump up, groaning, he nearly sat down on the white seat but emitted groans again. He finally ended up standing between the couch and white chair, looking around at everyone, confused now that his place of consistency in an ever changing world was taken by this little woman.

An idea suddenly hit Lilly and she smirked, "Tell you what, I'll move and I'll never sit here again, if and only if, you help me with Nate on Thursday night."

His head snapped down and he glared at her and crossed his arms, "No! Why should I be forced to endure the social affair of searching for a potential mate when I have no desire to find a mate?!"

Lilly smacked her forehead with her hands and groaned, "Sheldon, it's not like we're going to actually start dating! It's just to make Nate stop asking me out; it's just a little white lie."

"Deception?"

Nodding, she sighed and said, "Yes, deception, unfortunately."

Confused, he said, "Why go through the motions of a…date…when you have no intention of fulfilling the purpose of the date?"

"What purpose?"

He looked around at the others for confirmation before looking at her again, "Sex of course."

Her face turned strawberry red and she covered it with her hands, embarrassed to be talking about having sex in front of three other men, all of whom had turned away from Sheldon.

"Sheldon, that's not the purpose of a date, although it is a nice side effect."

He found himself sitting next to her, practically pushing Howard off the couch, "Yeah, go ahead, not like I was sitting there."

Ignoring Howard, Sheldon's attention was on Lilly, "If mating is not the purpose of dating, then what is it's purpose?"

Lilly was surprised that a genius like Sheldon was actually oblivious to something like dating. She cocked her head and curled her feet up underneath her, which she noticed caused Sheldon to stare at her feet on the couch. She immediately put them back on the floor and gave him a sheepish smile, "Sorry."

He was looking at her like he was waiting on her to say something and she remembered he had asked her a question, "Oh! Um, dating can eventually lead to sex, but, um it's suppose to be a way to get to know a person, on the inside."

"Hmm…fascinating. I am curious now of this…date. What does it entail? What steps are needed for it to take place?"

She smiled, "Are you saying you'll help me?"

"So long as you hold to your agreement of never sitting in my spot again. Agreed?"

She nodded and scooted close enough to wrap her arms around his neck and hug him, "Thank you so much Sheldon!"

Letting go, she rose to her feet and pushed her hair behind her ears, "Okay, so the double date is Thursday night at eight o'clock. We're meeting them at the movies."

She left in a whirlwind, leaving behind the four men in the apartment. Sheldon's face twitched momentarily before scooting to his spot and regaining some comfort. "Why does she always have to touch me?"

Leonard picked up the Klingon dictionary from the table and said, "Well, touch is a way used to communicate at times, maybe that's just how she relates to people, through touch. She's not trying to make you uncomfortable; she's just a nurturing person."

Sheldon looked down at the unfinished boggle game, picking up his notepad, "I don't like it."

Wait, what movie theater would they be going to? Would there be Icees there? What about the popcorn; how much butter would be put on it?

He jumped up and raced out of the apartment. "Lilly! Which theater are we going to!?"

Raj shook the boggle tray and said, "Sheldon is such a _qoH_"

Leonard and Howard looked at each other and nodded, "Agreed."

***

It was Wednesday night and Lilly's brother was coming over again, well more like barging over. He had some how found out about her "date" tomorrow night, and was coming over to "meet" her date. His exact words were, "As the older brother, it's my job to scare the guy trying to get into my sister's pants."

She immediately told him that Sheldon wouldn't being going anywhere near her pants because she would be wearing a skirt. Yeah, he didn't that funny.

Lilly was currently running down stairs to the first floor, trying to intercept her over-protective ex-jarhead brother. That's right, before her brother was a chef, he was a marine. His career change wasn't understood by many, but not many called him on it due to his sheer size. He may not be a marine anymore, but he still maintained his marine physique.

She smiled as a tenant walked in as he stared at her in her purple sweatpants and pink tank-top, shuffling her bare feet on the ground.

Trevor walked in a few minutes later, an amused yet dangerous look on his face. He looked like their dad then; they shared the same face and the same personality. Her dad never let her date in high school unless the boy had dinner with them at home first. Her father had been a cop, which didn't leave much trust on his part. Both Trevor and their dad were laid back and rolled with the punches until it came to her; then they turned into the most worry warts the world had ever known.

"Hello baby sister, where is Cooper?"

She arched her hip and crossed her arms, "Cooper? You're really going to do the whole last name thing?"

He cracked his knuckles with a grin and started walking up the stairs, "Yup! Which floor does he live on?"

Scoffing, she ran after her brother, trying to stop him. "Damn it, Trevor, stop! Just stop!"

He didn't answer her and simply continued up the stairs until she finally grabbed him by the arm and attempted to force him to stop. "Okay Trevor, listen up! I am not a little girl anymore. I am a grown woman who will date anyone she pleases, so don't you, with your big muscles and your huzzah's, come up in here thinking you're gonna threaten him and change my mind!"

He brought his hand up and starting mocking her talking with it, pinching his fingers together, "yap yap yap, that's all I'm hearin' from the hole in yer mouth."

She pushed at his chest, hoping he'd fall back, but his sheer size made that impossible. Growling, she stomped her foot and crossed her arms, her hair in disarray.

"Excuse me…"

_Crap_

Lilly turned around and saw Sheldon standing there in his blue checkered robe and matching pajamas, his eyes droopy from sleep. She mouthed, "go back inside" to him, but he didn't take the hint and said, "If you don't mind Lilly, could you and your…companion…take this spat upstairs. If we are to have a successful date tomorrow evening then I should hope to be wake during it."

She closed her eyes, knowing Sheldon had just sealed his fate. "Why didn't you just go back inside Sheldon? I gave you a hint!"

He blinked, unsure why he was being yelled at, but didn't have the chance as Trevor walked up to him and stood eye-level with him. Sheldon swore he saw a vein pulsing in his neck as he took a step back, clutching the doorframe.

"Trevor, back off!"

Sheldon looked around the mountain of a man and looked at Lilly, "Lilly, who is your friend who looks as if he is about to give me swirly?"

She pushed herself between him and Trevor and said, "My idiotic brother, Trevor. Who is being a giant ass-clown right now!"

She stood in front of Sheldon as a human shield, her hands on her hips. Sheldon thought she looked like Wonder Woman in that moment.

Trevor held up his hands and backed up, "Calm down Leelee, damn. I'm just wanting to meet the man taking my innocent baby sister out on a date tomorrow evening, and to let him know, that if any hanky panky takes place, his ass is grass."

She couldn't help but blush and said, "Alright, you've threatened him, now please, go home Trevor."

Trevor stuck out his hand and said, "Nice to meet you Shell, remember what I said, cause I mean every world."

Sheldon reluctantly shook the outstretched hand and jumped when Trevor smacked him on the arm and said, "You two have fun tomorrow night, now, you hear?"

With that, Trevor walked down the stairs and disappeared around the corner. Lilly turned to Sheldon and smiled sheepishly, touching his arm more gently than her brother did, "I am so sorry, Sheldon. Trevor is a bit protective of me."

"I believe I could perceive that, as it was my hand he was crushing."

She apologized and watched him return inside his apartment, wondering just how their "date" was going to go tomorrow night.

***

_goH _- Klingon for fool.

***

A/N: Okay, chapter four is done. The "date" is next, so come back and read to learn what happens, and remember, REVIEW.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Alright! More reviews, awesome! I was so happy when my last chapter could be seen as a potential episode on the show, it made my day, along with the other reviews I got. Don't forget to leave your comments after reading. Enjoy!! 

* * *

Chapter Five

Sheldon stood in front of the mirror, staring at his reflection with curiosity before turning to his friends who stood behind him, "Are you sure this is adequate?"

Penny brushed his shoulders and looked him over once more. She had practically forced him into the outfit, much to his displeasure. Penny had picked out a casual yet dressy outfit that consisted of slacks and a simple blue dress shirt. He felt uncomfortable in the outfit, but if it meant his date experiment was successful, he guessed his discomfort could be bearable.

"Sheldon, you look so good! Doesn't he guys?" she asked the men, who simply grumbled in agreement, bored to death of having to witness Sheldon being used like a Barbie doll by Penny until she was satisfied with his outfit.

Squirming away from Penny's touching, Sheldon adjusted the tie around his neck and looked over his appearance once more before exiting the bathroom, brushing past the guys and into the living room.

He was curious about the effect the anticipation of this experiment was having on him. As he reached his desk, Sheldon pulled out his journal and began to write,

_Sheldon's Log,_

_It seems the experiment of social engagement I am about to commence has already show side effects. I find that my palms have become sweaty and I seem to be emitting a case of B.O. I do not understand why it is occurring. Perhaps I will come to understand these effects once the experiment has concluded. _

"Sheldon, you really should head up and meet Lilly. You got the flowers like I told you to right?" asked Penny as she interrupted his journaling.

Looking up from his journal, Sheldon pressed it against his chest, afraid Penny could see what he had been writing. Rising to his feet, Sheldon slid the notebook into a drawer and turned to face Penny, "Yes, Penny, I purchased them just after work this afternoon. They are being kept at their freshest by a solution of biocide that I whipped up. Did you know that within three hours of a flower's stem being cut, that there are over thirty million thriving forms of bacteria residing within it? This bacterium is the cause of the flower's neglect to bloom fully and to wilt quicker."

"Um, that's interesting Sheldon, but really, you're suppose to be on time for a date; being late is a big no no. So scoot."

She pushed him towards the kitchen to retrieve the bright sunflowers that sat in a mixture of biocide and water as Sheldon resisted, "Now wait just one moment Penny, there are questions I have about dating protocol."

"Like what, Sheldon?"

Gripping the flowers in his hand, he asked, "I suppose the first question would be, what is the purpose of presenting flowers to the female? What is the significance?"

Penny removed herself from where she stood beside Leonard and said, "Well, flowers are just a sweet way to show the woman that you are really interested in her and they make her feel special."

Looking down at the flowers, he mumbled, "At forty dollars, she should feel special."

Raj leaned in and whispered into his ear, "Remember to pay for everything, chicks like it when the guy pays for everything."

Sheldon looked slightly peeved, "Why must I pay for everything? If I remember correctly, a date consists of two individuals, so should there not be a fair share of expenses? We never pay for each other when we go out to dinner. What makes Lilly any different?"

Penny patted his shoulder, "You poor thing, you really have no idea what a date is, do you?"

"That is why I am performing this experiment with Lilly, to gain understanding of what a date is."

"Wait a minute,"

Howard approached Sheldon and crossed his arms, "I thought you said you were doing this so that Lilly wouldn't sit in your spot ever again."

Straitening his constrictive tie, Sheldon said, "In the beginning, I admit it was simply to have her permanently removed from my spot, however, I find that there are aspects of this social experience that I do not understand."

Walking into the kitchen, Leonard opened the refrigerator and peered inside, "Hey, does Lilly know that this is an experiment? I mean, sure, you're helping her out, but to turn it into an actually experiment, I don't know…I might feel insulted."

Leonard snapped open a mountain dew and leaned against the counter as he said, "Oh, make sure you seem interested in what she's saying, too, Sheldon. Women like it when you seem to think what they say is important."

Penny turned on her heels and glared at him, hands on her hips. "What do you mean _seem_ interested? You weren't interested in what I was talking about on our dates?"

Caught between a rock and a hard place, Leonard fiddled with the cap on the top of the green can he clutched in his hands, looking at Penny with uncertainty. "O-of course I did Penny, why wouldn't I be interested in what you have to say?"

He gave her a smile, resembling a puppy sitting at its' master's feet, asking for forgiveness. Penny pursed her lips and said, "Maybe because you just told Sheldon to _seem_ interested, I don't know, just my interpretation."

He opened his mouth to speak, but looked like a gasping goldfish, before shutting it and walking to the couch silently and sitting down.

Snapped her fingers, Penny pointed at him with a desperate look," Do not wear that jacket you always wear, okay?" she said, patting him on the arm and handing him a beige blazer. Sheldon frowned and turned around to watch her sit on the couch, "And just what is wrong with my jacket?"

She looked at him as if he should know the answer and gave a piteous look, "Sheldon, sweetie, that jacket, it well, it makes you look…well you look-"

Howard sat down next to her, grabbing the remote and turning on the television, "It makes you look like a nerd; not that you need that jacket to tell you that; the jacket just confirms your nerdiness."

Sneering, Sheldon said, "So does that shirt," before heading out the door, flowers in hand.

Howard looked down at the bright yellow shirt he had on with an ascot around his neck, turning to Penny he asked, "I don't look nerdy do I Penny?"

She froze, unsure if she wanted to be truthful or not, but plastered a smile and said, "Oh no, that's totally not nerdy."

Howard sighed in relief and turned his attention back to the television while Penny leaned towards Leonard, "That shirt totally makes him look nerdy."

Lilly was humming as she rubbed lotion along her legs, the smell of sweet pea filling her nose. She had decided that although it wasn't a real date with Sheldon, she did want to look nice. She just hoped he didn't get the idea that she really considered this a real date; Sheldon didn't seem to understand or possess the greatest social skills.

She brushed her bangs out of her face and looked over her appearance in the mirror; she wore a deep purple skirt that fell to her knees in tumbles and a green v-neck t-shirt that was covered in a brown mini-sweater jacket. She wore a large bangle on her left wrist and three small ones on her right.

Lilly wasn't one to really wear jewelry, but she wanted to look good, so she pulled out the works. A simply beaded necklace adorned her neck and she wore hoop earrings with a diamond stud in her upper right ear.

Very little make-up covered her face, just a little eye shadow with mascara for her eyes and lip gloss for her lips. She was a pretty simple girl, really. Having been raised by primarily male figures, they really didn't know how to go about teaching her feminine skills. She had to learn from her girlfriends, who were more than happy to as she was tomboyish in high school.

Walking out of her bedroom, the clopping of her sandals echoed off the floor, showing off her dainty feet and koi colored toes.

She peered into the hallway mirror to make sure her braided hair was still in place before heading into the living room to wait for Sheldon to arrive. It was a minute to seven-thirty, but she really didn't expect Sheldon to arrive on time, not many of her real dates were ever on time.

But just as she bent to sit down, the familiar knock of Sheldon Cooper reverberated off the door,

*Knock, knock, knock*

"Lilly"

*Knock, knock, knock*

"Lilly"

*Knock, knock, knock*

"Lilly"

She wasn't sure why he did that, but she found it kind of endearing. It was annoying at first, but now she was used to the triple-knocking. At least she would always know who it was.

Lilly opened the door and smiled, "Hi Sheldon."

He seemed to be thinking of something to say before she found a bouquet of flowers sticking in her face. Leaning her head back so not to be hit by the yellow flowers, Lilly giggled and took them from him.

"Oh, sunflowers! I love them."

Clinching his hands, Sheldon suddenly blurted, "Penny told me they were your favorite, but she told me not to tell you that she told me."

She looked at him with contemplation before saying, "It was sweet of you to get these for me, Sheldon."

She leaned down and closed her eyes, smelling the scent of the blooming flowers. She had not expected him to get her flowers! They were gorgeous and seemed to have been freshly picked. Stepping back, she said, "Come on in, I'm just going to put these in some water and then we can go."

Lilly bent down under the sink and pulled out a vase before filling it with water and sticking the sunflowers in. She placed the vase on her coffee table and wiped her slightly wet hands together, looking at Sheldon, who stood rigidly by the door.

She grabbed her bag and draped it over her shoulder and stopped in front of Sheldon. Upon closer inspection, she saw that he was sweating slightly on his neck. She smiled to herself and said, "So, um, thank you again Sheldon, for helping me with this. I really, really appreciate it."

He nodded and pulled at his tie slightly. Cocking her head, she laughed softly and reached up on her tip topes to loosen the tie further, "What's with the tie?"

Sheldon watched her as she removed the tie from around his neck, invading his personal space. As she did, he could smell the hint of something sweet and flowery; he liked it.

Avoiding the eye contact she was trying to make with him, Sheldon ran through the different words of advice his friends had given him earlier in the evening before Penny's arrival to assist him in wardrobe:

_Leonard: "Tell her she looks nice, make her feel pretty."_

_Wolowitz: "Tell her she smells good." _

_Koothrappali: "I wouldn't know what to say, I've never gotten past the first date. Probably because I can't talk to women!" _

As she laid the tie down on the coffee table, Sheldon cleared his throat and said, "You look pretty, Lilly and you smell nice. What is that aroma you're wearing?"

He noticed her cheeks darkened with a reddish hue and her eyes averting away from looking at him. She suddenly looked nervous and said, "T-Thank you Sheldon, you look rather nice to. I don't think I've ever seen you look so, well, so unlike you."

Unsure what that meant, he asked, "Have I chosen the wrong attire for this fake date? Would this "date" be more successful if I were change?"

Shaking her head, she placed a hand on his hand that was removing the blazer, "No, no! It's just that I didn't want you to feel uncomfortable. You look so out of place, I was kinda curious about what superhero was going to be on your shirt. I like them."

They stood in silence for a moment before Sheldon picked up his tie and said, "Very well, I will back in a moment."

"Wai-"

But it was too late, Sheldon had rushed out of the apartment and down the stairs, leaving Lilly to stare at the empty space, slightly amused that he took it seriously.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Penny, Leonard, Raj, and Howard were surprised to see Sheldon running into the apartment, screaming, "Can't talk, got to change! Lilly likes my vintage superhero shirts!"

The four people on the couch and floor stared between each other, unsure what the lanky scientist was talking about. Sheldon reemerged from the hallway wearing his blue superman logo shirt over a lime green elbow length shirt and khaki pants.

Without a word, he ran out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him.

"Wha-"

The door reopened and Sheldon re-entered quickly, grabbing his corduroy jacket that hung on the back of his desk chair and exited before anyone could say a word, rushing back upstairs to Lilly.

Lilly remained where he had left her and as he gasped for breathe, she broke into laughter, which perplexed him, "Have I done something amusing?"

She waved her hands in the air back and forth before calming herself. "It's just, you didn't have to do that, but thank you. Now I can get to know the real Sheldon Cooper."

"Was I somehow a different Sheldon Cooper before now?"

They had arrived at the restaurant a few minutes early, although Lilly thought they would never get there because every time she drove over fifty-five miles, he would grab the dashboard and start to panic, begging her to slow down. She thought she was claustrophobic, but she had nothing on Sheldon.

Lilly and Sheldon walked in silence into the restaurant, Sheldon looking around at the place with a critical eye.

"Welcome to Le'Luna, my name is Renee. How may I help you this evening?"

"Yes, we're here to meet our party, Nate Donnelly and Daisy Carmichael."

They were led to a table rather quickly. As she moved to sit down, Sheldon suddenly stopped mid-sit and rushed to her side, pulling out her chair. Surprised, she gave a sheepish smile, "Thank you Sheldon."

Nodding he said, "It is considered gentlemanly to pull the date's chair out for her, isn't it?"

Blushing, she nodded, saying nothing as she covered her lap with the napkin.

Every now and then, Lilly would see Sheldon looking over his menu, at her, trying to be discrete about it, but failing miserably. She smiled behind her own menu and said nothing, not wanting to spook him.

After a while, Lilly looked around the restaurant for Nate and Daisy. She could tell that Sheldon was getting agitated by the way his face ticked and the way his jittery foot bounced up and down underneath the table.

She had been surprised when Nate said he would ask Daisy to go to dinner with him for a double date. She had doubted it at first, but she had heard Daisy in the background on the phone. Apparently they had run into each other in the parking lot and had agreed to have drinks as friends, not

"Lilly, I don't want to appear impatient, but it is now seven past eight." Sheldon said as he looked down at his watch.

Her cell phone suddenly rang from her bag at her feet and she bent down to dig it out. "Hello?"

"Lilly!"

Daisy's voice sounded slightly frantic on the other line. "Lilly, I'm so sorry, but we can't make it tonight."

Turning in her seat, Lilly pressed her free hand against her ear, blocking out the music coming from the dance floor nearby, "What happened?"

"Nate's sick, I mean really really sick! He hasn't stopped throwing up for the last hour and a half; we're in the emergency room. Oh Nate….it's okay, the nurse...ewww! No, no it's fine Nate, it was just an accident….Look Lilly, sorry, but I really have to go…Nurse!"

The line went dead and Lilly couldn't help but laugh as she let her phone drop into her bag and turned to Sheldon.

Leaning against the table on her elbows, she said, "You're not going to believe this, but it appears Nate is sick and they can't make it."

Sheldon's chair literally skid away from the table as he covered his mouth with his napkin, "How sick?"

Shrugging, she said, "Daisy said he was throwing up; he probably caught it from one of his students in class. There's been a bug going around the school for the last two weeks or so."

He scooted even further, a look of realization on his face, "That's right, you're the school nurse! You're probably carrying the deadly little pest that's currently emptying your friend's stomach at this very moment!"

Lilly simply took out hand sanitizer from her bag and squeezed three drops into her palm, "Look at what I'm doing Sheldon; I'm putting hand sanitizer on my hands. I do this every time a child comes in and leaves my office. I don't like sickness any more than you do. Want some?"

He scooted his chair back to the table rather quickly and held his hands out. She squeezed the tiny bottle three times and watched as he rapidly covered his hands in the germ killing liquid. "More please!"

She did as he demanded and handed him the tiny bottle, "Tell you what, why don't you keep that, okay?"

He snatched the bottle up and nearly emptied it as he continued to cover his hands with the sanitizer. Once he calmed down and was able to stop hyperventilating, he took a drink of his diet coke and asked, "As we are no longer dining with this man you have been so adamant about not dating, does this conclude our "date"?"

Biting her lip, she thought of a reason why they should cancel their night. Thinking of nothing, she cleared her throat and said, "We could just go along as we planned. I mean, we've already ordered our food, and well you don't have anything better to do, right?"

Sheldon lowered the half empty sanitizer bottle and said, "Actually, I have been working with quarks on the subatomic level and have been making breakthroughs; I could work on that."

The smile fell from her face and she looked down at her hands that rested on her lap, "Oh…okay."

When the waiter came around, she asked for their orders to be put in to-go boxes. The waiter looked at her funny, but said he would and left to help other customers. Looking back at Sheldon, she couldn't help but feel disappointed.

She knew this wasn't a real date, but she had wanted to get to know Sheldon, really know him since he had hit her in the face with his door. He was so smart and had a personality she had never seen in a person. Sure he was a bit…eccentric, from what she had seen, but she thought they were adorable.

He was different from the men she had known all her life. He wasn't a butch, muscle-bound gun-loving southern gentleman, but a scrawny, sensitive, and intelligent, okay extremely intelligent man.

Once their hot to-go boxes arrived, Sheldon paid, even though she had offered to pay for her own food. It was funny because he looked at her as if she had just asked a trick question.

They drove back to the apartment in relative silence and once they arrived, walked up the stairs until they reached Sheldon's apartment, where they fidgeted uncomfortably.

Sheldon suddenly pulled out his keys and unlocked his door, "Good night Lilly."

He said it so casual that Lilly frowned, standing there feeling a bit dejected as he shut the door without looking back. She remained there in front of the door, holding her food in her hands, trying to think if she did something that made him not want to talk to her further.

"Lilly?" Penny's confused voice said behind her. Turning around, Lilly smiled forcibly and waved.

"Hi Penny."

Penny walked out of her apartment and wrapped her arms around herself, a bit chilled from the cold hallway, "Hey, I thought you weren't going to get back till elevenish. It's only nine-fifteen. Did something happen?"

Lilly pushed a loose curl behind her ear as she nodded, "Yeah turns out Nate's really sick and Daisy's with him at the hospital."

"So you just came back? I thought you'd finish eating at the restaurant to go to the movie without them."

Lilly shrugged, "Sheldon wanted to work on some quartz thing instead, so we came back."

Penny's mouth fell open and she had a look of disbelief on her face, "What?! He said he'd rather do that than go out?! Oh he is such an idiot!"

Lilly took hold of Penny's shaking fist and said, "It's okay, really Penny. This whole thing was just so Nate wouldn't think I was available. It's not like we were on an actual date or anything."

Walking past her, Lilly called out, "Have a good night Penny, I'm just going to enjoy my linguini and watch a movie."

Once Lilly disappeared upstairs, Penny's fell into resolve and she stomped forward to the apartment in front of her, knocking on the door harshly,

"Sheldon!!! Open this door, right now!"

A moment later, the door opened slowly and Sheldon's head poked out, "Yes Penny?"

Pushing her way into the apartment, Penny turned on Sheldon and slapped him in the chest, "You are an idiot, you know that?"

Looking down at her, Sheldon said, "Penny, if you recall, I have an IQ of 187, an IQ far superior to that of an idiot."

Sheldon took a step back as Penny forced herself in his face, "I don't care! Do you have any idea how you made Lilly feel tonight?"

Sheldon was visibly confused. His eyes moved back and forth across the fuming woman's face, unsure of what she was talking about. "Do I want to know?"

Penny rolled her eyes and took a step away from him. She stomped over to the door and pointed outside, "Go upstairs and apologize right now! She's upset that you'd rather be playing with your do hickies than having dinner with her!"

"But,"

Sheldon looked at Penny for clarification, "She asked me what I wanted to do, so I did. How does that upset her?"

Penny slapped him in the chest again, causing Sheldon to rub the spot, a look of slight fear on his face, "Why do you keep hitting me?"

"Because you're being an insensitive jerk! She wanted to spend some time with you and you just blew her off to work on some science stuff."

Now defensive, Sheldon stepped forward, arms crossed in determination to defend his work ,"It is not stuff, you silly woman! It is work that will change the future of physics as we know it! The work I am doing is very important-"

"Yeah, well so is the girl upstairs, who is eating linguini and watching sappy chick flicks!"

Sheldon closed his mouth. "Pardon?"

Sighing, Penny closed the distance between them and laid her hands on his forearms, "Sheldon, Lilly wanted to get to know you tonight, and you wanting to work rather than be around her, really hurt her feelings. You should apologize."

Penny said nothing else and walked back across the hall to her apartment and shut the door, leaving Sheldon standing in the middle of his, contemplating Penny's words.

"That's so saaadd!"

Wiping her eyes, Lilly sniffled at the sight on the screen of Hugh Jackman trying to revive Rachel Weisz as she died in the hospital bed. _The Fountain_ was her favorite sap movie and watched it whenever she was feeling upset.

She didn't know why she was so upset about Sheldon not wanting to continue their non-date. It baffled her at how much it hurt her feeling.

Her eyes filled with tears again as Hugh refused to be moved from his wife's side even though she was dead, "I want that! I want a man who'd travel through space to see me again!"

Blinking rapidly, Lilly refused to let her tears fall. She could relate with Rachel's character in many different levels. For one, they both had cancer. Well, Lilly used to have cancer, but it was caught early enough to stop the spread.

A soft series of three knocks followed by her name. Creasing her eyebrows, Lilly rose to her feet and looked through her peephole and saw Sheldon standing on the other side, holding his to-go box in his hands.

She cracked the door slightly and said, "Sheldon? What is it?"

"Would it be to much to be able to see you as I speak to you?"

She quickly ran her hand over her face, not wanting him to see she had been crying before opening it fully to reveal her wonder woman pajamas. "Hi."

"Hello Lilly.

He suddenly leaned forward and said, "You've been crying?!"

Lilly looked down at her feet, blushing. "Um, I'm watching a sad movie is all. You know us women get sensitive about everything."

They were silent until Sheldon stepped forward, clearing his throat, "Lilly, have I upset you this evening on our "date"?"

She was biting her lip, something she did when she was nervous, he noticed. She looked back up at him and shrugged, "It's not a big deal Sheldon. You have important work to do, and this whole "date" thing was just a hoax anyway."

"So, I did hurt your feelings." It was more a statement than a question as he contemplated what he had done.

"Sheldon,"

He interrupted her quickly, "Lilly, I would like to make it up to you; it was not my intention to hurt your feelings. I don't have much experience in this field of social interaction."

She suddenly smiled and said, "You really want to make it up to me?"

"Yes, I really do."

Taking the box from his hands she opened the door further, "Then let's eat our food and finish my movie."

Sheldon entered the apartment and noticed there were tissues on the coffee table and looked at the television where a man was crying. He watched as Lilly sat down on her couch and noticed that she had scooted to the right side of the couch, leaving the left side open for him to sit down.

As he did, he noticed that she no longer had a look of gloom on her face and had the bright smile again. He decided that he liked her smiling and would prefer her to retain that look.

Looking back at the television, Sheldon asked, "Is this a sappy chick flick?"

"Hey! Don't hate on Hugh now, he is one fine Australian man."

For the remainder of the night, Lilly and Sheldon ate their leftovers as they sat on the couch, watching movies and talking. They did not realize how long they had talked until Lilly happened to look out the window and saw the beginning of a new day.

* * *

So here is the beginning of Lilly and Sheldon's friendship, but will it lead to more? (Hehehe)

Now, leave me some comments people! REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

It had been four weeks since Lilly's and Sheldon's "date" and Lilly found herself immersed in the lives of the five people that lived beneath her, well three, but Howard and Raj were there so much they might as well live there. She found that she had a lot more in common with them than she realized, even though she was nowhere near as intelligent as the two resident geniuses downstairs. Half the time, she really didn't know what they were talking about, but she found it entertaining to watch the guys arguing about whatever astronomical science thing they were talking about. While she had no experience in that area, the guys were surprised that she had so much knowledge on comics and superheroes without seeming to.

Today was Saturday and she was going to surprise her neighbors with breakfast. They had been so nice and welcoming to her, Lilly just wanted to thank them. She had let Penny in on it as she had the spare key to Leonard and Sheldon's apartment. Penny had been right on board and lent her the key.

At the crack of dawn, Lilly rolled out of bed and grabbed the food she needed to make breakfast and headed downstairs.

Penny had given her the key the night before, so was sleeping away inside with Leonard and Sheldon. As silent as possible, Lilly entered the apartment and made a B-line to the kitchen, careful not to slam the door shut.

She laid the plastic bag on the counter and started up the stove. She pulled out the bacon and a carton of eggs, followed by cheese and pancake batter.

As Lilly started to cook, she started to hum and dance around the kitchen, unaware that she had an audience standing in his robe, sleep still in his eyes as he watched her in silence.

Sheldon had been awoken by the sound of the front door opening. The walls weren't as thick as they looked; Penny's over night visits were proof of that.

He ventured out, thinking someone was breaking into the apartment. He was surprised to find Lilly dancing around the kitchen, throwing bacon on to a pan and watched it sizzle. She was wearing pajama bottoms and a baby tee with no shoes, singing incoherently.

He watched her for a moment before he noticed what time it was, "Lilly,"

"Ahhh!"

Lilly practically jumped out her skin and dropped the piece of bacon she had in her hand, on the ground. Turning around she clung to her chest and said, "Don't do that Sheldon! Do you want to give me a heart attack?"

He walked into the kitchen and looked around at the slight mess she had created in his sanitized kitchen. "What have you done?"

Giggling, she pushed him out of the way and flipped the bacon over, "I'm making you and Leonard breakfast today. You are in for a treat my friend, I make the best breakfast out of everyone in my family."

Looking behind her, Lilly saw that Sheldon was reaching up above the refrigerator and was pulling down a box of cereal. She dropped the fork in her hand on to a paper towel and snatched the box out of his hands, "What do you think you're doing Mr.?"

He looked at the cereal box in her hands and said, "I always have cereal on Saturdays."

"Well not this Saturday, Sheldon. Because today, you're having bacon, eggs, and pancakes."

Sheldon reached to take the cereal away from her, but Lilly evaded him and held the box behind her back, "No Sheldon, I'm making you breakfast and that's what you're going to eat. Not cold, soggy cereal, but a hot, delicious meal."

Looking at her emphatically, he said, "Lilly, I always have cereal when I watch Doctor Who, I see no reason to change my traditional Saturday."

"Don't you get tired of cereal, though?"

He reached for it again, but she took a step out of the kitchen, still evading him. Sighing he said, "No, if I were tired of my Saturday schedule I would discontinue it. Now give me my cereal Lilly."

She looked as if she were thinking about actually giving him back the box in her hands, but looked up at him and shook her head, "No."

He looked at her ardently before stepping closer, "Give it,"

"No."

She stepped back quicker as he advanced, "You're going to eat something different today. Think of it as a special occasion."

Sheldon watched as she walked over to the window and opened it, "What are you doing?"

She simply smiled and threw the box into the dumpster below much to Sheldon's horror, "NOOO!"

Sheldon rushed to the window and looked down below. Lilly walked back into the kitchen and continued to cook. As she did, Sheldon sharply turned away from the window and glared at the back of her head.

Pointing over her shoulder, Lilly said "Don't you glare at me, Sheldon Cooper."

Sheldon practically stomped his way down the hall, leaving a confused Lilly behind. So she had thrown out that disgusting box of Raisin Brand, big whoop.

As she continued to scramble the eggs, she couldn't help but feel slightly bad for disturbing his routine; Sheldon seemed to have some form of OCD, but she wasn't going to come out and say, "Hey Sheldon, do you have a anxiety disorder that requires you to have constancy in your life, or otherwise go insane?"

Biting her lip, Lilly sighed and turned down the heat of the stove and laid the spatula down on the counter before moving into the living room and grabbing the remote. Doctor Who had barely started as she pressed the record button. Lilly dropped the remote on to the couch and made her way down the hall towards Sheldon's room.

As she passed Leonard's room, the door opened and Leonard's disheveled face poked out, "Hey, what's wrong with Sheldon? He was screaming about something. And what are you doing here so early? On a Saturday."

She patted his shoulder and pushed him back into his room where Penny was passed out on his bed. "Don't worry about it Leonard, go back to sleep, k?"

He mumbled as he slid back into bed and Lilly shut the door quietly before crossing over to Sheldon's door.

She couldn't hear anything on the other side, but she knew Sheldon was probably pouting. Knocking softly, she said, "Sheldon? Sheldon, I didn't mean to upset you; I just wanted to do something nice for you and Leonard."

The door opened a crack and Sheldon voice said harshly, "Then maybe you shouldn't have thrown my Raisin Brand out the window; you've completely ruined my fiber intake for the day! Now my system is going to be completely out of whack, all because you, and I quote, wanted to do something nice, for me and Leonard!"

The door slammed shut and Lilly pulled her face away in order to avoid being hit. Putting her hands on her hips, Lilly said, "Okay, one, I don't need to know about your digestion, that's just gross. Two, stop being a baby about it; you are a genius, Sheldon, this belittles your superior intellect."

After a moment, the door opened and Sheldon stop tall, looking down at her before crossing his arms, "I will accept your apology as you are correct; I am a genius."

Lilly smiled and opened her mouth, only to shut it as Sheldon held up an index finger, "However,"

"However, we must come to an agreement that you do not touch my things, you do not interrupt my routine, nor do you barge unannounced into my apartment."

Lilly arched an elegant eyebrow and crossed her arms, "Sheldon, you do realize that you do all of those things to me, right? I mean just yesterday, I found you in my apartment when I came home from work, measuring my floorboards."

He interjected, "That was an exception; your floor is uneven and there is a constant creek above the living room, it distracts me when I'm working."

She rolled her eyes, "Oh come on Sheldon, really? A creek in the floor is disturbing you, genius extraordinaire? Okay, what about you touching my Hellboy comic books, and the time you practically stole my original issue one Watchmen comic?"

"That was not me; that was Raj! I was simply holding it when you ran in here like a crazed feline. I still have a scratch from when you ripped it from my hands, see?"

He pulled up his sleeve and thrusted his arm in her face. She grabbed his arm to humor him, and looked down, seeing nothing. "Sheldon, there isn't a scratch there. But back to this whole agreement thing; if you don't want me touching your things, fine; don't touch mine. If you don't want me coming over unannounced, fine; don't be in my apartment when I'm not home. But Sheldon, I say this with love, get out of this apartment and do something. Go to the park, the movies, anything! I've known you for nearly a month and not once have I seen you do anything out of routine. Hey why don't we go do something today, after breakfast and Doctor Who?"

Sheldon curled his lip and said, "Lilly, although I do not agree with doing things spotlessly, I will agree to respect your residence upstairs and your property as long as you do the same."

She reached out and patted his arm, "Now come on, breakfast is getting cold. And don't worry about missing any Doctor Who, I recorded it for you."

She left him in his doorway and returned to the kitchen and started up the stove again, warming the chilling eggs and added a bit of cheese to them. She could hear the seldom steps coming from the hall and pretended not to notice as Sheldon returned to the living room area.

Smiling, she heard him grumble as he sat on the couch and resumed his show, the sound of the Doctor Who theme song emitting through the air.

"Hey Shell, how many pancakes do you want?"

From his spot on the couch, Sheldon remained focused on Doctor Who as he said, "Please keep in mind that I do not appreciate being addressed by any other names other than my given one."

Lilly scrapped the eggs into a bowl and placed it by the stove before wiping her hands on a towel and walk over to sit next to Sheldon. "Sheldon, you do know that nicknames are forms of endearment, don't you? I mean, I thought we were friends, after all."

Sheldon crossed his arms and stared at the television, "Not from my experience, just ask Gregory Yatley. He gave me nicknames of a different variety."

"Aww, Sheldon, I'm sorry you were picked on when you were little."

Looking confused, he said, "Gregory Yatley works in the Astrophysics department with Raj. But yes, I was forced to endure names created by those with inferior intellect than my own as a child."

_Oh, wow…_

As she mixed the batter, Sheldon had ventured over and was fidgeting uncertainly by the counter. He watched as she flipped her hair out of her face as she churned the batter until it was smooth.

"Hey Sheldon?"

"Yes Lilly?"

Sheldon looked down at the bowl Lilly had thrust into his hands as she said, "Why don't you help me make some pancakes? We can make them into different shapes."

Some time later, Leonard and Penny pulled themselves out of his bedroom and walked down the hall to only stop and stare at the sight in front of them. Lilly was laughing as Sheldon failed to flip a pancake and frowned down at it on the ground. She took the spatula from him and pushed him to the side, showing him how to properly flip a pancake.

"See? It's not hard. I thought you were a genius, Sheldon."

Sheldon stole the spatula from her and said, "Laugh all you like Lilly, but even a genius such as myself aren't omnipotent, as hard as it is to believe."

Lilly held a plate up as she gave him a teasing smile, "Touchy, touchy Dr. Cooper."

He carefully used the spatula to move the oddly shaped pancakes on to the plate and as he turned to place the pan into the sink, saw Leonard and Penny standing there, "Aw, good morning, Leonard, Penny. I trust you both slept well after your copulation last night."

Lilly stopped mid-stride and looked between Leonard and Penny, "Do I want to know?"

Penny shook her head and stared down at the pancakes, "What happened to the pancakes?"

Sheldon peered over Lilly's shoulder and said, "They're spaceships, obviously. And these, these are representations of rockets, see?."

Sheldon mimicked the sound of a rocket going off as he moved the rocket-shaped pancake through the air until dropping it on to his plate, mimicking the sound of a crash. Lilly placed eggs on his plate, followed by some bacon.

"Come on you two, make a plate." Lilly said as she grabbed her own and sat down next to Sheldon on the couch and started eating as she watched the morning news. Penny and Leonard exchanged looks before grabbing a plate and venturing into the living room.

It was later in the day and Lilly had just finished her shower, when the phone rang. Wrapped in a towel, she rushed towards the phone resting on her counter, "Hello?"

"Baby girl, what's this I hear about you went on a date?!"

_Crap_.

"Hi Daddy! How are you doing, huh? Everything okay since I've been gone?"

"Don't you try and change the subject, young lady. Now, your brother called me the other day, mentioning that you went on a date a few weeks ago, explain."

Siting down on her couch, she said, "Daddy, it wasn't really a date, I mean, it was just a friend helping me out. There's this guy at work who's interested in me, and I'm not interested in him, so Sheldon was just pretending to be my date so that I wouldn't have go out with this guy."

"Sheldon!? What kind of name is Sheldon?"

Rolling her eyes, Lilly began to unravel her hair from the towel that covered her head, "Daddy, be nice. Sheldon is a very sweet man. He didn't have to do it, but he did. He's a good friend, and that's all he is daddy, a friend. So don't send Trevor over here, like you did when I was in high school. I'm twenty-five for god's sake, daddy; I am a grown woman as hard as that is for you to believe."

"I know that you're a grown woman. But that don't change the fact that you're my daughter and I have the right as your father, to make sure you're alright, 'specially when yer living in Los Angles, should be called Lost Angels, if you ask me, that city's so full of crime and-"

"Okay daddy, don't go off on one of your speeches about how the world's going to hell."

"But it is!"

Standing, Lilly shook her head and walked into her bathroom, throwing the towel into her hamper, "Daddy, please, just relax. You know you have a weak heart and the doctor told you to avoid stress. Now I'm going to go now, I need to go to the store."

"Stress? Baby girl, this isn't stress. But fine, call me later."

"Bye daddy…"

"And use protection!"

"Bye daddy!"

She hung up on him and threw the phone on the sink, "God! Strike me down now!"

Lilly dressed herself in a pair of hip huggers and a orange halter top, covered by a light open green shirt, before leaving to go to the grocery store. As she opened her door, Sheldon was standing there, hand raised to knock.

"Oh, hello Lilly."

"Hello Sheldon, do you need something?"

Sheldon somehow was able to go into her apartment, leaving Lilly standing at her door, "Come in Sheldon, please."

Shutting the door, she turned to Sheldon, who stood with his hands behind his back, a look of contemplation on his face. "Did you need something Sheldon?"

"I find myself curious about your statement earlier this morning of how I need to venture out and experience things other than my routine. What would be the purpose of experiencing these other things outside of my routine?"

Shrugging, she said, "Well, life's all about learning new things, experiencing new things. You're not going to do that, cooped up in that apartment of yours."

Tilting his head, Sheldon said, "And you would be willing to assist me in this experiment of experiencing new things outside my routine?"

"Um, sure."

Clasping his hands, Sheldon stepped around her and made his way to the door, "Wonderful. We shall begin immediately. What will we do first?"

In her mind, Lilly wondered what she had just agreed to, but handed him the keys that she held in her hand, "First, we're going to the store because I need food. I used what I had to make you breakfast."

He looked down at the keys and pushed them back to her, "I don't drive."

Lily looked at him in disbelief, "What do you mean you don't drive?"

* * *

Okay, sorry it's been a few days since my last update, but I had college finals this last week, so it was a bit difficult to maintain a proper stream of ideas. But now that they are over, I can work on this story, yay! So remember to leave me some reviews, okay? REVIEW!!!


End file.
